CK12 Earth Science

Table 15.1:Concentrations of Atmospheric Gases Gas Symbol Concentration (%) Nitrogen N 2 78.08 Oxygen O 2 20.95 Argon Ar 0.93 Ne ...

Figure 15.2: A dust storm in Al Asad, Iraq. ( 6 ) Pressure and Density The atmosphere has different properties at different elev ...

Figure 15.3: The difference in air pressure between 2,000 meters and sea level caused this bottle to collapse. The bottle was or ...

altitude, there is no gas left. The density of the atmosphere at 30 km (19 miles) above sea level is only 1% that of sea level. ...

landing? If air pressure at sea level is one ton and at 5,500 m (18,000 feet) is one-half ton, what is air pressure at 11,000 m ...

respiration The process in which animals and plants use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide; in respiration, organisms convert sug ...

not move as much, so they do not take up as much space. When the molecules are warm, they move vigorously and take up more space ...

Figure 15.4: The layers of the atmosphere with altitude. ( 10 ) ...

rock, soil, and water, which radiate it back into the atmosphere as heat, further warming the troposphere. The temperature of th ...

sphere is trapped beneath the warmer, less dense air of the stratosphere. So the tropopause is a barrier that keeps air from mov ...

Mesosphere Temperatures in themesosphere decrease with altitude. Since there are very few gas molecules in the mesosphere to abs ...

Thermosphere and Beyond Thethermosphererises from the mesopause. The International Space Station (ISS) orbits within the upper p ...

The most spectacular feature of the ionosphere is the nighttimeaurora. Spectacular light displays with streamers, arcs, or fogli ...

The troposphere gets its heat from the ground, and so temperature decreases with altitude. Warm air rises and cool air sinks an ...

ionosphere An ionized layer contained within the thermosphere; the second to the last layer of the atmosphere. mesopause The thi ...

15.3 Energy in the Atmosphere Lesson Objectives Describe how energy is transmitted. Describe the Earth’s heat budget and what h ...

Figure 15.9: Waves. The high points are the crests, the low point is the trough. The wavelength is the distance from crest to cr ...

Figure 15.10: The electromagnetic spectrum showing the wavelengths of energy. Solar radi- ation that reaches the outer atmospher ...

heat because it has many more vibrating atoms. Even though it’s at a lower temperature, the bathtub has a greater total energy. ...

Figure 15.11: An image of the sun taken by the SOHO spacecraft. The sensor is picking up only the 17.1 nm wavelength, in the ult ...